Slotted bone tools are an iconic example of composite tool technology in which change in one of the components does not require changing the design of the other parts. Commonly, slotted bone tools are seen through the lens of lithic technology, highlighting organizational aspects related to serial production of insets, reliability and maintainability. In this framework, slotted bone tool technology is associated with risk aversion in demanding environmental settings. Here, we provide the first overview of radiocarbon-dated slotted bone tools in northernmost Europe and the East European Plain, including 17 new direct dates on pitch glue, and show that the Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene period of inset slotted bone tool use in this area shows marked variation and idiosyncrasy in associated lithic technology against a trend of continuously warming climate. We suggest that historical specificity and path-dependence, rather than convergent evolution, best explain the variability seen in slotted bone tool technology in the studied case, and that slotted bone tools in general formed an organizationally flexible, adaptable and hence likely adaptive technological solution that met a wide variety of cultural and technological demands.

开槽骨工具是复合工具技术的标志性示例，其中组件之一的更改无需更改其他零件的设计。通常，开槽的骨工具是通过石板技术的镜头看到的，突出了与插图的连续生产，可靠性和可维护性有关的组织方面。在此框架中，开槽的骨工具技术与严苛的环境设置中的风险规避息息相关。在这里，我们提供了最北端的欧洲和东欧平原的放射性碳酸盐带槽骨工具的第一篇概述，包括有关沥青胶的17个新的直接日期，并表明在该地区使用的晚更新世至全新世中期的开槽开槽骨工具在相关的岩性技术方面显示出明显的变化和特质，而这与气候持续变暖的趋势有关。我们建议，历史特异性和路径依赖性，而不是趋同进化，可以最好地解释在研究案例中开槽骨工具技术中的可变性，并且开槽骨工具通常形成了组织灵活，适应性强，因此可能的适应性技术解决方案，满足了各种各样的文化和技术需求。